a while ago, a friend and i agreed to make mix cds illustrating our own evolution of consumers and lovers of music. i'm ridiculously thorough and slow when making mixes and with this large of a project, i'm still working on it. as i'm going through my music collection, i find that i have quite a lot to say about my choices. so here is the expanded version of those liner notes*, hopefully including intelligent discussion with my friends and readers.
and i'm starting with Cher.
i really think it happened in college. well, i mean, i liked Cher before that. it's just i wasn't as comfortable admitting it. i don't know why not. i just didn't talk to it with anyone other than my mom. or at least that's how i remember it. and then it was the very early 2000s, i had just come out. coming out for me wasn't just about my sexuality. it was more than that. it was about being honest with my identity on more than just that level. so how does Cher fit it? well, songs like "Song for the Lonely" were anthems in the gay clubs, drag shows, Pride and hell, it's Cher. i hear that song and i'm at that specific moment in time and history. it relates not only to my personal journey, but places me at a very precise place on the historical and cultural map: just before 9/11, just before things got really loud around the gay marriage debate. and there was Cher. and there was a young queer, learning the ropes of this new subculture, this new identity, this new way to operate in the world. and i remember being proud.
* Not even close to chronological order.
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